Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is Limestone Bancorp (LMST) a Great Value Stock Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

While the proven Zacks Rank places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find strong stocks, we also know that investors tend to develop their own individual strategies. With this in mind, we are always looking at value, growth, and momentum trends to discover great companies.

Of these, perhaps no stock market trend is more popular than value investing, which is a strategy that has proven to be successful in all sorts of market environments. Value investors use tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

On top of the Zacks Rank, investors can also look at our innovative Style Scores system to find stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will want to focus on the "Value" category. Stocks with high Zacks Ranks and "A" grades for Value will be some of the highest-quality value stocks on the market today.

One stock to keep an eye on is Limestone Bancorp . LMST is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value.

Investors should also recognize that LMST has a P/B ratio of 0.96. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This stock's P/B looks solid versus its industry's average P/B of 1.75. Within the past 52 weeks, LMST's P/B has been as high as 1.02 and as low as 0.85, with a median of 0.93.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. This is a popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. LMST has a P/S ratio of 2.18. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.9.

Finally, investors should note that LMST has a P/CF ratio of 7.04. This figure highlights a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find firms that are undervalued when considering their impressive cash outlook. LMST's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 14.24. Within the past 12 months, LMST's P/CF has been as high as 9.62 and as low as 6.52, with a median of 7.29.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in Limestone Bancorp's strong Value grade, but they help show that the stock is likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, LMST looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.

Published in